CNN: Bush: 'The information we got saved lives'
Former President George W. Bush on Thursday repeated Dick Cheney's assertion that their enhanced interrogation program was legal and garnered valuable information that prevented future terrorist attacks.

CNN: Petraeus says releasing detainee photos would be risky
Releasing images of the alleged abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody could damage Pakistan's efforts to battle Islamic militants as well as increase the risks to American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, the top U.S. commander in the region has told a federal judge.

CNN: Poll: 47 percent give Sotomayor high marks
A poll conducted immediately after President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court suggests that nearly half of Americans have a favorable opinion of the president's choice.

CNN: House GOP takes aim at Pelosi
House Republicans have launched a coordinated public relations blitz against 17 congressional Democrats that seeks to tie them to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her accusations that the CIA misled Congress about the interrogation of terror suspects.

Washington Post: Abortion Rights Backers Get Reassurances on Nominee
The White House scrambled yesterday to assuage worries from liberal groups about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's scant record on abortion rights, delivering strong but vague assurances that the Supreme Court nominee agrees with President Obama's belief in constitutional protections for a woman's right to the procedure.

Washington Post: Europe Objects Anew to Detainees
The Obama administration's push to resettle at least 50 Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Europe is meeting fresh resistance as European officials demand that the United States first give asylum to some inmates before they will do the same.

WSJ: Taliban's Foreign Support Vexes U.S.
U.S. officials recently concluded that the Afghan Taliban may receive as much money from foreign donors as it does from opium sales, potentially hindering the Obama administration's strategy to rehabilitate Afghanistan by stopping the country's drug trade.

CNN: Obama expected to announce 'cyber czar' position
President Obama is expected to announce Friday the creation of the position of cyber czar, a person who will coordinate the nation's efforts to protect government and private computer systems from hackers, criminal gangs, terrorists and spies, people familiar with the plan said Thursday.

LA Times: A solar plant that's worth its salt
Just past Barstow on Interstate 15, Las Vegas-bound travelers can eye a tower resembling a lighthouse rising out of the desert encircled by more than 1,800 mirrors the size of billboards.

CNN: Honduras earthquake leaves six dead
At least six people were killed Thursday when a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Honduras, President Jose Manuel Zelaya told CNN en Español Thursday.

NYT: Misery Hangs Over Gaza Despite Pledges of Help
Dozens of families still live in tents amid collapsed buildings and rusting pipes. With construction materials barred, a few are building mud-brick homes. Everything but food and medicine has to be smuggled through desert tunnels from Egypt. Among the items that people seek is an addictive pain reliever used to fight depression.

CNN: GM bankruptcy still likely despite deal
The Treasury Department and a committee of major bondholders at General Motors have reached a deal that could give creditors a larger stake in GM than previously offered. But bankruptcy is still likely in the next few days despite the deal.

CNN: Barbarians at the banking gates
There are plenty of ailing banks out there. But there are also lots of big investors with plenty of cash. So why haven't there been more deals between the two?

CNN: Troubled mortgages hit record high
Despite all the hand-wringing and attempts to contain the foreclosure plague, the problem still spread during the first three months of 2009, as the number of foreclosure actions started hit a record high, according to a quarterly report.

WSJ: U.S. to Urge China To Shop, Not Save
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads to Beijing this weekend to urge Chinese leaders to fundamentally alter the export-oriented economy that has created years of trans-Pacific trade tensions.

USA Today: Obama: Now or never for health reform
President Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn't deliver health care legislation by the end of the year, the opportunity will be lost, a plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act.